NY Jets place rookie Hamsah Nasirildeen on IR, LB depth thin

The NY Jets made a number of roster moves on Tuesday with the most notable being the addition of rookie linebacker Hamsah Nasirildeen to the injured reserve.

The Jets announced on Tuesday that they had placed Nasirildeen on IR and signed offensive lineman Isaiah Williams from their practice squad to the active roster.

They also announced that they had signed running back Austin Walter to their practice squad and released offensive lineman Elijah Nkansah.

Walter will take the place of Josh Adams who cleared waivers this past week, but is deciding to pursue other opportunities as opposed to signing back with the Jets practice squad. It's likely he lands on some team's active roster before long.

The NY Jets are looking thin at linebacker following the Hamsah Nasirildeen injury

It's unclear at the time of writing what injury Nasirildeen suffered or if there is any timetable for his return. Head coach Robert Saleh did not indicate that the rookie linebacker was injured when speaking to the media after Sunday's game.

A sixth-round pick in this year's draft, Nasirildeen emerged as the starting weak-side linebacker in the summer and entered Week 1 as one of the team's starting linebackers.

This was despite the fact that he was not only a sixth-round pick but that he had only been playing the position for a few months after making a name for himself as a safety in college.

Nasirildeen would start the first two games of the season playing 49 and 31 percent of defensive snaps, respectively, before being relegated to a role exclusively on special teams.

The former Florida State standout was a featured player on special teams in each of the last two weeks, but he hasn't played on defense since Week 2. Now, he'll miss at least the next three weeks with an undisclosed injury.

The Jets linebacker depth is rather thin now with Nasirildeen out. C.J. Mosley, Quincy Williams, Jamien Sherwood, and Del'Shawn Phillips are the only four healthy linebackers remaining on the active roster.

The Jets do have Noah Dawkins down on the practice squad as well as Hamilcar Rashed Jr. who played some linebacker this summer. Dawkins was one of three players on the practice squad protected by the Jets this week so it's very possible he's elevated for Sunday's game.

Here's to hoping Hamsah Nasirildeen can return to the field in relatively short order.